Chef Rasmus Munk to Close Copenhagen’s Two-Michelin-Starred Alchemist for Five Months Annually

Chef Rasmus Munk is set to introduce a sweeping operational change at his two-Michelin-starred Copenhagen restaurant, Alchemist, implementing a five-month annual closure dubbed “Intermission” beginning in December 2026. Despite a staggering waitlist exceeding 1 million diners and tables routinely selling out within minutes, Munk aims to step away from daily service to focus on creative exploration.

The final seating for the restaurant’s current menu is scheduled for November. That month will feature “Curtain Call,” a special compilation menu running during the final week to allow guests and kitchen staff to revisit fan-favorite dishes that will likely not return. Among the memorable courses slated for the farewell week are the Butterfly, a cultivated and edible insect fed on nettles, water and honey; the Perfect Omelette, featuring an egg yolk membrane holding an egg and Comté mixture designed to melt on the tongue; and Burnout Chicken, where guests free a chicken thigh from a metal cage using its still-attached claw.

Reservations for the November services and the Curtain Call event opened on September 21 and sold out instantly. Munk noted that the restaurant could easily fill its roster for the following year using just the current waitlist.

The concept of a prolonged seasonal hiatus is rare in fine dining, though precedent exists internationally. Spain’s Mugaritz famously closes for six months a year, a practice also maintained by El Bulli prior to its 2011 closure, while Sweden’s Fäviken maintained a five-month hiatus until shutting its doors in 2019.

Munk debuted the first iteration of Alchemist as a 15-seat concept in 2015 before closing it in 2017. In 2019, alongside investor and majority owner Lars Seier Christensen, he reopened the restaurant in its current three-story, 23,600-square-foot space in Copenhagen’s Refshaleøen area. Munk currently owns less than 10 percent of the business.

Since opening, Munk has maintained a grueling schedule, attending roughly 192 dinner services per year, which has left little time for travel or unhurried creation. Comparing the culinary arts to theater, music, and visual arts, Munk noted that ambitious creative work requires dedicated time and space before presentation. When Alchemist reopens following each Intermission, it will debut an entirely new food and beverage menu alongside fresh visual projections for its planetarium dome and brand-new art installations.

To finance the five-month pause, Alchemist will alter its pricing structure. Currently, the standard food menu costs 5,600 Danish kroner (approximately $870), with guests selecting from seven tiered beverage pairings ranging from $450 to $1,575. Upon reopening, the restaurant will institute a mandatory set price encompassing the complete food-and-drink experience, including an aperitif, beverage pairing, and coffee or tea service. Because over 70 percent of diners already purchase pairings, capturing revenue from the remaining 30 percent will provide the financial margin needed to sustain the annual closure. The exact final price for the set meal has not yet been finalized.

All Alchemist employees will remain on the payroll as full-time staff throughout the Intermission, participating in dedicated research and experimentation projects. Front-of-house staff will take classes spanning choreography and psychology, receive deep training on beverage menus, and visit regional suppliers. The test kitchen and line cooks will collaborate on developing new dish concepts, while the creative team behind Alchemist’s distinctive servingware and art installations will tackle new design challenges.

Ironically, the closure will also broaden public access. During the five-month hiatus, the Alchemist team plans to offer backstage tours and immersive experiences, including tastings of previous menus.

Munk acknowledges that the annual shutdown is a major experiment, but he remains eager to see what ideas emerge when the kitchen is granted the luxury of time.